Apr 09

YOUR SEX ED FAQs ANSWERED

As our YouTube channel reaches 200K subscribers (wow!!!!!!!!), I thought I’d address some of the questions found in the comments section. Of course, you can always reach me on Twitter or on my official Facebook page and I’ll do my best to reply quickly. But first, let me express my gratitude for your viewership and your passion about the show. People are listening… and watching. My dream is making more of this show, and thanks to you being vocal and lending us your support, that dream may be happening. Soon!

 

Question 1. “WTF is this bullshit”

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Answer:

This bullshit is a dramedy – Degrassi High meets American Pie and The Breakfast Club. It was shot in 2008, hit the fest circuit in 2009, was broadcast on Koldcast TV in 2010, nominated for a Streamy Award and a Webby Award.

 It’s meant to be funny, with smart-alecky witty dialogue that leads to significant insight (it gets heavy toward the end). The Festival Cut comes closest to a “final version,” but people like the 60 minute 6-part version, which tends to ramble.

It’s definitely against the web series norm of two-minute comedic improv/snippets. My goal was to create a series more in the vein of a multi-layered television show reminiscent of the kind of shows I grew up on.

 

Question 2. “Wait… do some colleges actually have classes like this?”

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Answer:

Actually… you’re right in that no college would have a sex ed class. It’s a psychology class, a general elective course designed to pad out a student’s course selection (“an easy A”). Everyone just calls it a sex ed class.

The assignment has a basis in reality – in college, I had an art roommate. One day he told me his art professor informed his class that the school could no longer afford to hire a nude model for figure drawing. So he asked them pair up and draw each other in the nude. Not in the class, mind you, but on their own – in their apartments, dorms, etc. I was told everyone finished their assignment.

 

Question 3. “What is in that blonde girl’s jeans?”

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Answer:

Nothing. The idea was she chose to wear tight jeans because she orgasms at the slightest touch; for instance, every time she climbs stairs. Exhausting work, but hey, beats coffee.

 

Follow-up question.

“So Lolly is the type of girl to experience orgasm by thought [without penetration] and choice of fabric?”

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Answer:

Correct. It’s a real thing. It’s called persistent sexual arousal syndrome (PSAS). My friend’s girlfriend’s mother had it so badly she had to have an operation. I would imagine it had to have been very unpleasant.

 

 

 Question 4. “(Stormy) is terrifying.”

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Answer:

 Not really a question, but… yeah, horrifying.

 

 

Question 5. “OMG! DID U GUYS NOTICE THE HUGE TRIANGLE WITH AN EYE AT THE BACK OF THAT GUY’S JACKET!”

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Answer:

I had costume approval, but we produced this show in a flurry of activity (11 days), and if the costumes are a bit wonky, it’s my fault (ex: I wished Stormy’s clothes in Ep 5 were less Sears –like). It’s my recollection that Bo Barrett, the actor, came in with his own clothes and jacket. He was gracious to come in for one day and make out with the director (Tamela D’Amico). It wasn’t my intent to place a Illuminati symbol in the show and, as far as I know, Bo is not a member. We simply met upon the level and parted on the square (Masonic joke anyone?).

 

 

Question 6. Is Ellen-Elaine-Eileen a prostitute?

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Answer:

Her actual name is Eileen. Pronounced “eye-lean.” And no, she wasn’t a prostitute in the cowboy scene. Just very loose and into roleplay. (The scene was supposed to be set in a sorority; you wouldn’t get it from the way this was cut but we had a banner and everything, I swear it!)

 

 

Question 7. Those “swastika cubicles.”

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Answer:

No. We shot most of Sex Ed at Glendale Community College, including their library. There were beautiful staircases, vast study rooms, endless rows of books – and we chose to film in a corner. The corner cubicles just happened to look like a Hindu swastika (the Hindu swastika faces the opposite direction of the Nazi swastika). Definitely not intentional. Let these commenters explain:

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Question 8. “How much juice does she have in that juice box?!”

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Answer:

The juice box is actually a time-space tesseract created by fifth-dimensional beings from the future. They foresaw that the Lolly-Dean scene was playing too long and soon Lolly would be out of juice. So the inter-dimensional beings got together and made it their life’s work to supply the Lolly character with an infinite (if improbable) source of sugary nutrition.

 

 

Question 9. “Was she kidding about the cancer and killing herself or only killing herself?”

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Answer:

Only killing herself. In this version of the pilot. Trevase has cancer. Billy sees her crying in her office in Episode 1. This was supposed to set up her outrageous behavior in the classroom. She confesses this to Dean, then goes too far by making a (very dark) joke about killing herself. Dean is meant to leave her office confused, which leads him to the book.

Looking back, I believe this to be a bit… much. Making a (sick) joke after an honest confession just erases everything before it. Bad writer, bad writer!

Rewatching Dead Poets Society, I was struck by how little we knew of the Robin Williams character. The teacher was simply a force of nature, a life-affirming mentor, which I believe Trevase can be in a newer different iteration, hint, hint…

 

 

Question 10. What is Al doing to himself at the end  of Episode 6?

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Answer:

This question has been answered by other commenters. Simply, he is cutting himself out of some deep personal hatred/shame. He says he does not abuse his body, but later we see he is – in a dangerous way – and thus is a hypocrite. (Also note he has tattoos on his arms)

If this show went on, you would have learned Al has a big secret – not sexual, but something he did, which causes him great guilt to the point of hurting himself. That’s what cutters typically do, and unfortunately, Al is a cutter.